Monthly Archives: November 2015

I didn’t write this post but really like it and thought you might. This one seems the perfect Thanksgiving message. I’m thankful for so much, and glad I found Tom’s uplifting message about thankfulness. My sister asks if it’s a chicken and egg thing. Tom seems to be saying thankfulness is the start and, perhaps the end too. See what you think.

“An Attitude of Gratitude“, by Tom Basson
So often when preaching on a topic I find myself having to really live it out in the weeks before… This Sunday my wife & I are both preaching on giving thanks in ALL situations, and in the last 10 days the following has happened: I have broken my foot, requiring painful surgery. I’ve had to cough […]

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Jim and Debbie rarely pass up the opportunity to browse an IKEA store. Not so much that it’s a destination for us, IKEA trips are entertaining diversions sometimes. For a full timer, the urge could hit anywhere. How better to spend a few (or more) hours than browsing the tremendous variety of fun stuff we don’t need and probably don’t have room for in our tiny tiny house?

Many stays in Vancouver BC included visits to the Coquitlam store, near Burnaby Cariboo RV resort, and to the Richmond store on the south side of Vancouver. Closer to our normal haunts is the Charlotte NC store, one we visit at least annually. They make it fun, offering good coffee free and tempting us with sweet rolls in the café. Too, they have entrees and marzipan in the “cafeteria” upstairs. Stay long enough and the body needs fuel to continue browsing.

Our clear favorite target at IKEA stores is the kitchen layouts. A close second is the arranged apartments, showing complete living quarters in under 600sf. Jim likes the display of chairs, particularly the comfortable armchairs and the lighting section. He sits in the POÄNG armchair every visit and wonders if this could be the thing most missed from having a roomier house these past eight years.

Ah, but the lighting section. Now there’s something we can sdd in our 188sf house, can’t we? Debbie’s practical and reasoning voice patiently says, “What problem does this solve?” Jim sometimes admits, “But isn’t this light (or switch, or whatever) just cool?” IKEA is the first big store to convert widely to LED lighting. Their LED product offerings are coming along gradually too.

Last year we finally succumbed to the inevitable. We bought and installed this little light. We waited till now to share it, after making sure we like it (did we delay too long? Can’t find it online now.) Would it hold up with mobile living? Do the batteries keep on or wane quickly? Is the light worth it’s cost and small weight? Probably!

Automatic LED light shines just when we need it.

A year and one set of AAA batteries later, this light is a win. It hasn’t fallen off, chipped, started any fires, or failed to light when we open the cabinet. Its biggest workout is when we show off our Airstream (and remember to open this cabinet.) Not all cabinets need this lighting. This one is the apt application for “appropriate technology.” We like it.

Hmm, what other treasures can we find at an IKEA store? So many displays, so much marzipan and coffee. . .

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Full time life in an RV has a few dimensions different from living in a bigger home. Our RV experiences are more frequent than most RVers, since we stay in our RV every day instead of one, two, or three weekends a month. Too, we come into contact with a very wide array of RVers in a years time. We enjoy our time traveling and meeting people from all over the world.

One more benefit to hanging out with other RVers is the shared knowledge and experiences. Sometimes we commiserate and just make each other feel better. It helps to learn you’re not the only one experiencing a recalcitrant water heater or a fridge that refuses to behave as advertised.

More helpful yet is when someone shares a solution you can use. We weren’t looking for this fix but knew it would help. Several times Jim thought he was stepping out of the trailer. He was so surprised when he abruptly was jerked back by one or more of his fingers caught in the screen door pull.

New pull is easy on the eyes and the fingers

Susanne showed us a simple fix she and Keith did on their new Airstream. They replaced the small curved pull on the screen door with a beefier Euro-style bar handle cabinet pull. The new one has three inch centers, so uses the same holes and screws. We found this pull at our local building supply store.
One inch offset allows more room for fingers to get in and out. The bar handle matches the other dozen cabinet and drawer pulls in our Airstream trailer.

You never know what you’ll learn from others. It’s a cinch we can learn a lot from each other if we pay attention. This is a practical, easy and economical solution for a sometimes painful problem in our trailer. Our screen door is easier to handle.